Talking-machine.



No. 717,953, V PATENTED JAN. 6,1903. L.' P. VALIQUBT. TALKING MAGHINE.

AIIPLIOATION FILED 111:0. 1a, 1898. I no MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.-

fio EX INVENTOR BY I PATENTED JAN. 6, 1903.

L. 1;: VALi UET. TALKING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 16 1893.

no MODEL.

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INVENTOB WITNESSES ATTORN EY w mm "was m, PNoTou'mm WASHINGTON. n n,

NITEED STATES PATE T OFFICE.

LOUIS P. VALIQUET, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO THE UNIVERSAL TALKING MACHINE MANUFACTURING COM- PANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

TALKING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 717,953, dated January 6, 1903.

Application filed December 16, 1898. Serial No. 699,429. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, LOUIS P. VALIQUET, citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of New York city, county of New York, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Talking-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to talking-machines;

IO and it consists of a novel method of procuring the necessary engagement and disengagement between the reproducingor recording style and the sound-record or the blank upon which said sound-record is to be inscribed.

I5 Heretofore it has been customary to have the record or recording-blank rotate upon a fixed axis or spindle and to have the reproducer and reproducing-stylus or the reproducing-stylus alone adjustable to and from the surface of the record for the purpose of withdrawing the stylus from the record in removing and replacing the record or in returning the parts to their initial position after each operation of the machine.

In the particular kind oftalking-machine known as the gramophone the reproducer has customarily been mounted upon an arm hinged to the main frame of the machine by a universal joint, so that the reproducer rested upon the record with its entire weight.

The disadvantage of this is that the reproducer is liable to be dropped upon the record with a violent shock or allowed to drop upon the table upon which the instrument stands,

thus creating a risk of damage or destruction both to the sou rid-record and the reproducer.

My invention overcomes this difiiculty by mounting the reproducer upon a carriage or swinging arm movable only in a fixed plane, which plane should be parallel to the plane of the record if the latter is in the form of a disk, or parallel to the axis of the record if the latter is in the form of a cylinder. The

necessary engagement of the record with the style anddisengagement therefrom I secure by making the record itself adjustable to and from the recording-style and preferably mount the record or the record-carrying table or mandrel upon a spring or equivalent yielding mechanism.

The preferred form of apparatus embodying my invention is illustrated in the accompanying two sheets of drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a gramophone to which my invention has been applied. Fig. 2 is a. vertical central section through the record-carrying table and the spindle therefor. Fig. 3 is a central section through a modified form of record-carrying table, the record being shown in position thereon. Figs. 4 and 5 are top and bottom views, respectively, of the modification shown in Fig. 3.

Throughout the drawings like referencefigu res refer to like parts.

The machine is mounted on base 1, having the casing 2, inclosing the running-gear, and an extension 19, inclosing the driving-spring. The arm 3 has an elongated bearing 4, in which the pivot 5 of the swinging arm 6 is journaled. The reproducer 7 is mounted on the end of the swinging arm 6 and carries the reproducing stylus or style 8. A rotating table 10 carries the disk-shaped sound-record 11, said sound-record being made of hard material which is unyielding to the stylus-point and held upon the table and caused to rotate therewith by means of the friction of the thumb-screw 12 or by means of an engaging pin 13. (See Fig. 2.)

The table 10 may of-course be mounted on any kind of a vertical shaft or pivot; but I prefer to mount it, as shown at Fig. 2, on a vertical sleeve 14, supported by cone-bearing on the upper end of the vertical pivot-shaft 15 and having the ball-bearing 16 against the flank of said vertical shaft. The sleeve 14 has a wide-faced pinion l7, meshing with the driving-gear 18, which latter is driven by any suitable gearing from a spring-motor in the extension-casing 19, which spring-motor I have not illustrated. The pivot-shaft 15 is vertically adjustable in the boss 26 on the bed-plate 27, and the lower end of said pivotshaft rests on any suitable yielding and adjustable support. I have illustrated as a preferred form of such support a lever 20, pivoted at 21 and having its right-hand end (see Fig. 2) forced down by the plunger 22, upon which a graduated pressure is brought by means of the spiral spring 23 and thumbscrew 25. The thumb-screw 25, spring 23, and plunger 22 are kept in line by the sleeve 24:, within which they work.

Any suitable horn or sound-conveying tube 9 is connected to the sound-box 7 and carried by the swinging arm 6.

A hinged catch 28 is provided at one side of the casing 2 and is so adjusted as to take over the table 10 and record 11, or over the table alone, and hold the table down in one of its lower positions.

Any form of key or winding-crank 29 may be used for winding up the spring-motor.

The operation of my in vention is as follows: The spring-motor being wound up and the catch 28 being disengaged, the mechanism will cause the sound-record 11 IO rotate, and the spring 23 will cause the lever 20 to force up the spindle 15 and with it the table 10 and record carried thereon, so that the soundrecord will be held in engagement with the reproducing -style 8. The style will be vibrated by the undulatory groove in the soundrecord, and the recorded sound will be reproduced in the sound-box 7 and delivered through the horn 9. As the record rotates the spiral groove will slowly feed the soundbox over, the arm 6 swinging upon its pivot 5. When the end of the record is reached, the table is forced down by the operator and out of engagement with the stylus 3, the latter being held up by the arm 6. The catch 28 is then thrown up to engage the table, as shown in Fig. 2, and the reproducer may be swung to one side. The record 11 may be removed and another one substituted. The reproducer is then swung back over the record and adjusted at the beginning thereof, the catch 28 thrown back in the position shown in Fig. I, and themachine will then start into operation. The degree of force with which the record is pressed against the reproducing-style will be controlled by adjusting the thumb-screw 25. If purity of tone is desired with an absence of all scratching sound, the thumb-screw 25 is turned so as to withdraw the screw and lessen the compression of the spring 23. If greater volume of tone is desired, the thumb-screw is turned in the opposite direction, so as to increase the compression of the spring and the consequent pressure with which the record is held against the reproducing-style. This forces the style farther into the record-groove, makes the vibrations of the style ampler and more positive, and gives a greater volume of tone, although accompanied by a slight increase of the scratching sounds produced by friction of the style upon the material of the record.

In the modifications shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5 the form of table now in useis shown, designed to be mounted on a non-adjustable vertical shaft, and the adjustment of the record is secured by mounting it on a series of little plungers 30, &c., mounted in the table itself and supported by springs 31 31, &c. Ad-

justment of these springs is secured through manipulation of the screws 32 32.

The advantages of my invention are evident in that the reproducer is securely supported at all times, while at the same time it is free to move through a plane parallel to the record, and thus' be fed along by said record or swung to one side for purposes of changing the records. At the same time the record can be promptly brought into or out of engagement with the reproducing-style at the will of the operator and held out of engagement by means of the catch 28. This catch also operates as a brake on the revolving table, and by throwing it out of engagement the one motion brings the record into engagement with the style and releases the driving mechanism, so that the machine beginsto talk. By adjusting the compression of the spring 23 different styles of sound reprod uction can be secured,as above described.

It is evident that various changes could be made in the apparatus disclosed without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, so long as the principle of operation above described is retained. The same adjustments would be operative in a machine in which the record was other than diskformed or in which the plane of movement of the reproducing-style was other than horizontal. Weights might be substituted for springs in producing the pressure holding the record in engagement with the style, and other mechanism for supporting and rotating the record-table might be employed. The reproducer might be carried on a different form of carriage from the swinging arm shown, &c. All these deviations I consider to be in form merely and not in substance, and all are within the scope of my invention.

Having therefore described my invention, what I claim, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a talking-machine the combination of a reproducing-stylus movable in one fixed plane only, and a flexibly-mounted sound-record of rigid material cooperating therewith, substantially as described.

2. In a talking-machine the combination of the reproducing-style movable ina horizontal plane, the sound-record rotating on a vertical axis, and mechanism for forcing the sound record toward the reproducer with yielding pressure, substantially as described.

3. In a talking-machine the combination of the reproducer movable in a fixed plane only, the sound-record cooperating therewith and having that portion of its surface in contact with the reproducer-style at any one moment movable in approximately the same plane as that in which the reproducer moves, and mechanism which forces said record toward the reproducer-style with yielding pressure, substantially as described.

4. In a talking-machine the combination of the reproducing-style movable in a fixed plane only, the disk-shaped sound-record rotating on an axis perpendicular to said plane,

and adjustable spring mechanism for forcing the record toward the style, substantially as described.

5. In a talking-machine the combination of the reproducing-style movable in a fixed plane only, the disk-shaped sound-record rotating on an axis perpendicular to said plane, and adjustable spring mechanism for forcing the record toward the style, together with a catch mechanism for holding the record out of engagement with the style, substantially as described.

6. In a gramophone, a vertically-adj ustable spindle for the rotating record-table, together with a yielding support for said spindle, sub stantially as described.

7. In a gramophone, a vertically-adjustable spindle for the rotating record-table, together with a yielding support on which the spindle rests, and a catch for holding said record-table down in its lower position, substantially as described.

8. In agramophone, a vertically-adjustable spindle for the rotating record-table, together with a yielding support on which the spindle rests, and mechanism for adjusting said yielding support, substantially as described. 9. In a sound recording and reproducing machine a record, means for rotating the same, asound-box provided with a diaphragm and style, and yielding supporting devices for bringing the record-disk into engagement Withthe style.

10. In a sound recording and reproducing machine, a rigidly-mounted reproducer, a yieldingly-mounted record, and means for keeping the grooves of the record in contact with the style of the reproducing mechanism for the purpose stated.

11. In a sound-reproducing machine, a reproducer mounted rigidly in a direction normal to the record and a support for the record mounted to yield in the same direction during reproduction.

Signed by me at New York city this 14th day of December, 1898.

LOUIS I. VALIQUET.

Witnesses:

A. PARKER-SMITH, LILIAN FOSTER. 

